Friday, July 24, 2009

This is a guest post by Gary Collins, a white male, 25 years old, who lives in Brooklyn, New York City and produces short films for The Department of Public Subversion.

Michael Bay presents . . .The New Face of Black America

“If God made us in His image, who do you think made them?"

In the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the single black (human) male of the cast, USAF Master Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson) utters that line by way of introducing the movie's towering title characters. It's a question that's perhaps more interesting than intended, given how unapologetically racist some of these new transformer personalities are. As for who made them, I blame the surrealistic but unwittingly white-minded director, Michael Bay, who presents throughout the movie a sort of minstrel laser light show.

Back in the summer of 2007 I decided that I would not be lured back for a second helping after my disappointment, as a fan and as a sentient human life form, over the first Transformers film.

Early reviews of the second installment promised more blacked-up robots, and after reading them I suddenly felt a responsibility to participate in the conversation. After all, discussion is a healthy step toward accountability. The reviews referenced the unnecessary racializing of superior alien beings traveling time and space to knuckle up on Earth. People talking about race is a good thing, but then, this is just a story about a space robot smackdown, right?

On opening day, a friend and I stood in a line stretching out of the theatre to the sidewalk in downtown New York City. Inside, an enthusiastic crowd of couples, families, and fanboys filled cinema four.

Throughout the show, the audience in the theatre was clearly satisfied, and I too was not above appreciating the entertainment objective of the filmmakers. My friend and I cheered along as Optimus Prime, the benevolent leader of the human-embracing Autobots, fought the good fight to save mankind from the Evil (capital E!) Decepticons.

But then, darkness (as it were) descended -- we became outnumbered in our section by laughs when the ridiculous twin Autobots, Mudflap and Skids, periodically rolled into the spotlight.

Think Jar Jar Bots. Remember the crows from Dumbo. Think Amos 'n’ Andy Meet R2D2 'n' C3PO. Picture an 11 foot, 1.2 metric ton, anthropomorphized Chevrolet with googly eyes, a protruding gold tooth, and an ape-like strut, spitting out "ghetto" slang. Now picture two of them, talkin’ that jive. By which I mean they 'gun on' one another, insulting their mutual inadequacy, their shared ignorance; it’s the incessant chattering of the monkey mind. The inflection is insulting to anyone with even a basic understanding of what a racist stereotype is. The attempt at humor is uncomfortable and not in any way suggestive of an enlightened wit on the part of its creators. These absurdly ghettoized characters add nothing to the story, except to provide some light moments between the 'splosions.

Director Michael Bay has defended Mudflap and Skids, claiming they "make the story more accessible to kids."

Yes, that’s right, he's coming for your kids. Did I mention that Tom Kenny provides the voice for Skids, the robot with a single gold tooth? He's Sponge Bob Squarepants.

A black couple in their early thirties to my left chuckled when the twins protest a human's suggestion that they even know how to read. Super-advanced alien robots with impossible amounts of moving parts and processing power. . . but they don't know how to read. Not that they can't, not that they're incapable, but they simply have not yet taken the opportunity to download that application. Because, you see, they're black-ish, which I guess means that when it comes to some important things, like say, reading, they’re too lazy to get that going for themselves. They talk black, they walk black, and they're even on CP Time -- they show up late for apocalyptic battles.

Mudflap and Skids mostly lope around behind the more important characters, mumbling constantly with unsubtle, "ass-bitch-shi-mutha" interjections.

Reno Wilson, the voice of Mudflap, suggests in his own interpretation of the characters, "It's an alien who uploaded information from the Internet and put together the conglomeration and formed this cadence, [this] way of speaking and body language that was accumulated... and that's what came out. If he had uploaded country music, he would have come out like that."

Wilson added, rather improbably, that he never imagined viewers might consider the twins to be objectionable racial caricatures. Nevertheless, Michael Bay unpacked his action figures and built some straight up hood rats. The result is a steady stream of ignorant, bickering, hateful epithets, puked out onto the audience in the name of comedy.

And black minstrelsy isn't the only sort on display; there's a heavy load of brownface too. The twins take particular issue with the human protagonist's roommate and unhappy sidekick, Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez), the film's representative Latino and Conspiracy Theorist. The Latino family in our section, two generations deep, roared as Skids suggests, in a moment of frustration, "Hey! Let's bust a cap in [Leo's] butt!" And the collective audience of the entire theatre released a wall of audible approval later in the story when Leo admits, ashamed, "I think I'm having a nervous breakdown. . ." In response Mudflap suggests, "That's cause you're a pussy!" and then, to Skids, reaches out for the unspoken bond of a knuckle five.

Following in an American cinematic tradition that just won't die, these two black characters are left for dead. Mudflap and Skids are simply tossed off after their usefulness has been consumed, much like the Mandingo Autobot Jazz of the first Transformers installment, a breakdancing black gangster robot, and subsequently the first to be ripped apart. It's suggested that they're merely unconscious with battle fatigue, but the storytellers give no definitive explanation. "Who cares?" the message seems to be, "they're just the black comic relief.”

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but notice that the packed, multicultural, multiracial opening-day audience seemed to enjoy the entire spectacle very much, spilling out of the theatre with an energetic buzz. Aside from the surprise my friend and I shared, there didn't seem to be any murmuring or confusion, no sort of indignant "did you catch that?!" that another friend of mine reported experiencing throughout the film when he saw it two weeks later at the same crowded theatre.

I was left to wonder, had I experienced a sort of opening-day audience solidarity? Had we seen it all before, too often, to expect better, and instead thoughtlessly appreciated what’s really a terribly pandering movie? Or worse, is it what we knowingly came and paid and gave our time to absorb, digest, and take home with us, in our brains, in our kids?

For me the answer is, "Certainly." It was what I had read about and what I was expecting. I still can’t really believe just how far they pushed these ideas without the studio, Paramount, putting a stop to it.

Most of the frame is dedicated to the relentless spectacle unfolding, really beating down on the audience with sensory over-stimulation. As viewers go along for the roller-coaster ride, they should keep in mind then that the storytellers garnish this beast with homophobic, racist, misogynistic, militaristic content, portrayed as comedic entertainment to benefit you, the audience.

They expect you to appreciate it, to laugh at it, in those moments when you come up for air. Especially if you're white.

51 comments:

I also liked how the opening scene, depicting early civilizations of humans (circa 17,000 B.C.) are black tribes. Nope, no use of European Magdalenian tribes. Michael Bay keeps the image of savage, uncivilised Africa in our minds instead.

Hmmm, you gave me something to think about. I went, I saw, and I laughed. And so did my husband, who is (by all appearances) black, whatever that means. I didn't see it the way you did. I suppose I must have "experienced a sort of opening-day audience solidarity" as you put it. Because I didn't catch it until you just pointed it out. And you're so right.

I know it's probably beyond the scope of this article but you should've also covered how a few of the actors and the actress in the movie have exposed their underlying racist tendencies recently and in the past.

The are Hollywood left-wingers...what do you expect? No one in their right mind expects them to respect minorities. They're known for rewriting the current time and especially about rewriting the past. Especially when they exonerate themselves from wrongdoings.

In respect to your post, Sem, I find the overarching militaristic themes of Transformers2 to be strongly right wing, beefed-up, heteronormative machismo. I expected this going into it as I know Michael Bay recieves a lot of US Military support to film with their air craft carriers, tanks, jets, etc.

With all the military excitement it's conveniently easy to dismiss a swipe at President Obama being whisked out of danger to a secret location. There is also the caricature of a suspicious liberal (glasses, buttoned-up snarl, "Just flew in from New York") National Security Advisor who believes the Autobots' continued presence on Earth (weapons hoarding) will ultimately lead to humanity's extermination. Later he is thrown from a plane by an ally of the Autobots, an Army Ranger.

I wouldn't place the blame on right or left wing championers, maybe just Hollywood, period. They should know better. In fact, I've been there, and they DO know better. Unfortunately they don't act always on what they know to be appropriate, or even, as in this case, inoffensive.

Hey Gary, enjoyable, well thought out and written was your article. Insightful to those of us still on the fence about subjects such as this one.

A comment that stood out of place was the one about Paramount not putting a stop to it.I wonder why they would considering that they hired the staff to make the movie then its safe to assume they knew well before hand the plot and were the ones to give it the "green light".

Perhaps its difficult to accept that this is not the first time, or the last time that hollywood will project their ignorant beliefs through the movies they make for us. Our communities of adults and children will probably continue to learn those behaviors of racism, and violence in the name of entertainment for as long as we continue to drop our well earned dollars into the greedy pockets.

Thunderhouse, thank you for your insight. I agree that statement does stand out on it's own a bit.

Before releasing a final cut the production studio acts as the last editor. According to interviews with the NY Times and Huffington Post Michael Bay was quoted saying the dialouge for Skids and Mudflap were unscripted and that the resulting inflection and personality is a direction of where the voice actors had decided to take it. It is also stated that scriptwriters Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman decline responsibility for the characters, pointing to the improvisation of the voice talent.

So no one is taking credit for this performance, not the writers, not the director, nor the two voice actors quoted in my review.

Therefor, at long last, the studio should have stepped in before releasing the final cut, just to calm the excitement and say something along the lines of, "We think you guys overlooked this. Lets get back into ADR (post production audio dubbing) and work it out." It's their responsibility, ultimately, and their name on the released film.

Unfortunately I must agree with you. As long as we continue to shell out the duckets studios will be only too happy to provide offensive 'entertainment.'

Holy sweet Christmas. Can you not just enjoy a movie without having to disect every piece of it? It is entertainment. It is SUMMER entertainment. It is the ultimate escapism. If you had your way the damn movie would be nothing more than plastic 3inch tall robots hugging each other so as not to offend anyone.

The reason why most people who have watched this film and films like it accept and are entertained by this offensive, ignorant, drivel is because they don't necessarily have any problems with it. Most people don't have scruples or standards about issues like racial stereotypes, racism, sexual perversion and such. So the people who claim to be intellectual and analytical or who claim to not subscribe to such ideas are the ones who should be able to distinguish and observe these problems in art and life.

First, let me say that I discovered this blog through an errant click on a search for "Stuff White People LIKE." I have been entranced ever since. Macon, I would like to say that I greatly appreciate your attempts to dissect the way whiteness colors our world.

In response to o2cool2bu, who asked why it was okay to lampoon whites without any ramifications, I offer this explanation. In mt opinion there is no such thing as a truly offensive white stereotype. However, black people have long had to deal with harmful generalizations. Black men in particular have long been portrayed as load and profane manglers of the English language, who lack any sort of higher brain function; in short, the roles that Skids and Mudflap shucked and jived across the silver screen.

P.S.Was anyone offended by Leo? I was annoyed by him, but more by his incessant whining than anything I saw to be a generalization. I am not as familiar with Hispanic stereotypes. Could someone fill me in?

I am pleased we could get a small conversation going regarding this topic.

To p0et I say let us isolate and identify what we prefer to indulge in as escapism. If it's a sense of dropping our decency at the ticket booth because of some heavy burden of being conscious of our actions all day long, then I'm afraid you and I don't agree on why someone goes to the movies. There is nothing entertaining about a projection of hateful stereotypes and, in the case of this film, really old, basic, haunting racial stereotypes. I already made an epic movie featuring 3inch tall plastic transformer action figures when I was nine years old, and was expecting better when I purchased my ticket for the 200million dollar sequel.

To o2cool2bu I ask what do we possibly lose as whites by witnessing the lampooning of whites? Surely not our self-esteem, nor are we reminded of our delicate balance as racial equals in the eyes of our peers. I guess my answer to your question would be: because we can.

"anonymous", what i wrote completely flew right over your head. I can't fault you though. You're a product of the unaware culture that has led to the creation of movies like Transformers. No, i wouldn't want Hollywood run by right-wingers. I'd rather see Hollywood economically collapse.

Nice try though at the, "stereotype me as a ignorant hick" though anonymous. Hate is hate is hate is hate and i'm guessing your thinking i'm what a lib like you would call "white trash" to make yourself feel superior. You may want to work on your capitalization skills though before trying to socially berate me with words like, "dern".

Anyways, i haven't seen Transformers nor do i care too. But perhaps we have something in common if you think about it. If you don't like the ideas, underlying messages in the movies then stop paying to see them. I understand Hollywood doesn't have the interests of any side in this country period. But they hope you don't recognize what they're programming into people either. Eight years of Hollywood movies under Bush's rule should've said it all but apparently not. Simply put, our culture is dissolving.

to come to Sem's defense a little, I don't necessarily think that he was arguing for a right-wing takeover of hollywood, but pointing out that despite its reputation for being liberal and its self-proclaimed progressivism it is still regularly churning out bigoted products that would seem to undercut both its reputed and self-proclaimed aims.

In some ways it feels much more difficult to confront racism, sexism and other forms of bigotry within the left then it is elsewhere, because too often the people who you are attempting to call out use their politics to as a shield with which to deflect criticism or to go on the attack. If I had a nickle for every time someone accused me of being racist when I called them out on fetishizing and exploiting indigenous spiritual beliefs or an anti-semite for suggesting that the palestinians deserved basic human rights then I could probably take myself out to a fancy dinner (and pay in change, heh).

So... while I don't know that this is what Sem was going for, that was definitely how I read his point about the (fake) "liberals" in hollywood.

*the way americans use the term liberal is misleading, greatly complicates all political discourse, and is definitely a factor in the silencing of the left by the pseudo left (the center-right) and the right wing. to steal from buffy: the earth is doomed (?)

Yes, those two are stereotypical ghetto African Americans, but how do you know they're the only 'black' robots in the movie?

No, seriously. All the other robots speak like normal Americans - why do you assume none of them are 'black' robots...or 'Asian' or 'Hispanic' or whatever. Is everyone who speaks properly in your mind a white person?

The only way to get rid of movies that play on 'ghetto black' stereotypes is to make the stereotype irrelevant. When 99% of young black men are aspiring to be doctors and engineers instead of rappers and athletes, when young black women from poorer neighborhoods put $50 a week in a college fund instead of spending it on hair and nails, when it's considered a mark of pride rather than shame to speak standard American English, that stereotype won't make enough sense to be considered entertaining.

Until then, it will be there in all caricature-driven movies. And to say those were the only two black-inspired robots is a slap in the face to every black who's ever been criticized by his community for 'speaking white.'

(Going on a slight tangent here.) Does anyone know where and when the idea for robots turning into cars came from?

I ask because Hollywood, with the help of its financial and cultural capital, is capable of projecting an image that whatever they produce is original. Yet, I cannot help but notice that, like Power Rangers, the robot car thing has been around in Japan for decades, possibly going back to the 1950s.

Hollywood does a great job at producing awesome visuals, but that tacit attribution of anything creative to white genius gets a teeny bit on my nerves sometimes (just a teeny bit) because, as far as I know, it rarely works the other way to the same extent.

Anonymous said... Holy sweet Christmas. Can you not just enjoy a movie without having to disect every piece of it? It is entertainment. It is SUMMER entertainment. It is the ultimate escapism. If you had your way the damn movie would be nothing more than plastic 3inch tall robots hugging each other so as not to offend anyone.

-p0et-

Racism translator: "Putting offensive black stereotypes in a kids movie is not important because black people and their feelings are not worth worrying about.

Transformers was originally a series of action figures released by HASBRO and paired with a Saturday morning cartoon, followed by a successful comic book series. It's one of several early 1980's mecha toy series such as Gobots, Diaclones, Microchange, etc. It's strange to see these powerful characters on screen transforming out from the shells of GM vehicles, considering current attitudes toward those products, but that is for another conversation.

To Elisabeth, I interpreted the noble Optimus Prime's voice as African American sounding. It is Mudflap & Skids, characters with a lengthy history in the Transformers universe of cartoons and comics that has been, until now, raceless, that are offensive. Rather than giving them black male voices, theirs are layered with minstrel personalities. After watching the movie when one is pressed to identify their personalities, one has to admit they are rooted in painfully uneducated stereotypes.

And your percentages need some more consideration. It sounds like you are blaming a people for the stereotypes fabricated and projected upon them by a separate, dominating, group.

Elisabeth, give me a break. You're basically justifying dominant, negative stereotypes of blacks that are widely applied to all black people regardless of whether they've actually done the things you've listed. I imagine you, Miss Privileged, have no idea what it's like to walk into a store or a restaurant and have people recoil at your presence, give you bad service, or just insult you to your face, though you're dressed like them and are minding your own damned business. I have, and though I'm a tough old bird, those deaths by a thousand cuts really start to burn after a while. And I wonder if you've really looked closely at any "statistics" about young black women and their hair and nails, given that I haven't seen Revlon, Opi, Luster, Dudley's or any major marketing companies publish this data anywhere. That's a good project in fact, so hop to it, girlfriend. School us all, since you seem to care so much for black folks' welfare.

I imagine you'd be the same person who'd laugh or would crinkle her nose at some unkempt, unemployed black woman turning up at your office for an interview, obviously unprepared because "she didn't look right."

While I'm not denying systemic problems in certain segments of African-American communities, as a person who has studied sociology, political science, and economics, I find it profoundly interesting that these "pathologies" are considered any more dangerous or detrimental than those mirrored in whites and other groups. Really, they're just drenched in melanin and covered with a with a large dose of racism.

If anything, the stats have shown that the effects of these "pathologies" are more dangerous to people inside the group (other blacks) than outside of it (whites and everybody else). More, I find it interesting that black Americans who have scraped to get what they have are solely responsible for rectifying these problems. Many were created or exacerbated by institutional conditions we didn't set. I strongly believe in personal responsibility, but I also recognize the difficulty when it feels like life is stepping on your face with a spiked boot. And that goes for troubled blacks and whites (since we're using that binary frame here).

More interesting is how we don't hear the same kind of dismissals when we see young white girls baring their body parts and sexual proclivities for the world in "Girls Gone Wild." What about the epidemic of child pornography that seems to be capturing people like that white Fox News producer, or the white NPR editor who recently received NO PRISON TIME from a sympathetic judge who said he had been embarrassed enough?

Interesting that the national outrage is muted (except for Dr. Phil) when a group of white teenagers in Florida brutally kill a white homeless man because they were angry and bored. What about all those mass elementary and high school shootings, often committed by young white boys over the last 25 years? Where the hell do these kids get *these* guns? I may be worried about Little Ray Ray killing my child down on 5th Street, but don't think you don't have something to be worried about, darling. My point is, we all do. Seeing societal problems as someone else's responsibility, or worse, blaming it all on one group, pushes us closer to this society's destruction.

Though scholars have different opinions, perhaps you should go back and study Jane Addams, the Hull House concept, and her theory of "lateral progress." And while you're at it, look up Ida B. Wells and Mary McLeod Bethune for a clearer picture of the diversity, strength, and contributions of black women to the moral fabric of U.S. society beyond hair and nails.

From the Tropics wrote "Hollywood does a great job at producing awesome visuals, but that tacit attribution of anything creative to white genius"

white hollywood is full of ridiculous appropriation and copycat-ing, to me it seems as though that is primarily a function of its corporate structure and desire to make $$$. I don't think its about making everything about "white creative genius", because it seems to me that that implies that the people involved in the process are thinking about things beyond "how can MY studio or subsidiary cash in on this trend".

Capitalism is a worldwide phenomenon at this point and it is not the sole province of white people perpetrating against people of color. The stereotypes portrayed in "Transformers" sell, or have yet to hurt sales. Until they cease to sell people will traffic in them, and they won't disappear. until companies begin to lose money when using them.

"Yes, those two are stereotypical ghetto African Americans, but how do you know they're the only 'black' robots in the movie?"

"No, seriously. All the other robots speak like normal Americans - why do you assume none of them are 'black' robots...or 'Asian' or 'Hispanic' or whatever. Is everyone who speaks properly in your mind a white person?"

(1) Technically, there is no way to know 'what' the other robots are in terms of ethnicity. However, I think that this point is moot when you considered that the default position in this country is white. Therefore, if you were to ask several random people to guess the 'race' of the other robots, I think that nine out of ten wouldn't assume a POC. Would this make these people racists? Of course not, but it would be a reflection of how deeply we've been conditioned when it comes to issue of race.

"The only way to get rid of movies that play on 'ghetto black' stereotypes is to make the stereotype irrelevant. When 99% of young black men are aspiring to be doctors and engineers instead of rappers and athletes, when young black women from poorer neighborhoods put $50 a week in a college fund instead of spending it on hair and nails, when it's considered a mark of pride rather than shame to speak standard American English, that stereotype won't make enough sense to be considered entertaining."

(2) While I can make no judgment as to the intent of your comments. I can firmly assert that they come off a insanely absurd, ignorant and contradictory.

(a) Regarding your 99% comment: This begs the question as to why POC should be held to a greater standard than non-POC? Especially, when you consider that most of the drug users in this country are not POC. There are millions of non-POC that are allergic to anything resembling work. They don't call them lazy but they are known as slackers which most people would agree is a distinction without a difference.

(b) Out of 210 million whites that are non-Hispanic, how many of those people do you suppose are part of the professional middle class these would be your doctors, engineers etc? How many POC do you suppose are part of the professional middle class? Out of the group of whites about 110 millions of those people span the spectrum (poverty, working poor, working-class, lower-middle class etc.) Which means that none of these people are doctors, lawyers, engineers or business owners and are much more likely to be on welfare, stuck in dead-end jobs or living pay-check-to-pay-check under a mountain of debt. In other words, a typical American family.

Therefore, I can further assert that people from the lower-economic rungs have a similar set of misplaced priorities and challenges. With this being the reality, your average white person regardless of class, is not subjected to or treated on the basis grossly ignorant stereotypes in fact, the opposite is likely to be true, they are likely to be endowed with positive attributes.

(c) Your comments also incorrectly assume that negative stereotypes that are applied to POC from all social-economic backgrounds are somehow the result of some POC behaving poorly. In addition to this assertion being based on a racist-double-standard, it incorrectly assumes that (a) out of the roughly 35 million black people in this country the vast majority of them are hoochie-mammas, aspiring rappers, and sport-star wannabes. (b) That even if there were no or few representative examples for which these racist stereotypes are based, they would magically go away. Which means that you fail to appreciate the pervasiveness of racist propaganda of the very nature you a trying to pawn off on thinking people with your comments.

"Hollywood does a great job at producing awesome visuals, but that tacit attribution of anything creative to white genius"

I wasn't saying that Hollywood attributes it to 'white genius' intentionally. But just that given it's financial and cultural capital, viewers just don't question where the ideas came from.

Whereas if you did the same thing in, say, Asia. The producer/director could get called out on 'copying'. A few years ago an Indonesian movie maker created a local movie based on a Hollywood movie. It was a hit. They got an award for it. But it turned into a scandal. All recipients of the award from previous years returned their awards in protest. I haven't really heard of this happening the other way around.

Suprise Suprise! Glad to see you are editing what comments should or should not make it to the board.

Any view not subscribing to yours or that you think is easy to pick apart doesn't make it onto the board eh?

So I will say it one more time in hopes you post this comment.

Everyone on this board is assuming the 2 robots were black (or POC). Why have you not assumed they are white or latino or asian? I have seen white rappers in MTV music video's that strangely resemble the 2 robots in question. Most of you have assumed that the director/producers were racist but it turns out that it is most of you that are the racists. These are robots, just as multi-colored as Optimus, so without the color black/brown/yellow to identify them as a POC you have judged them to be POC based on the robots actions. You have associated their actions with being a POC. But how is that possible if you aren't racist yourself? Does that mean you hold that certain types of race act in a certain way? Shush! No! That cannot be, for it true, you'd have to be racist.

"(Going on a slight tangent here.) Does anyone know where and when the idea for robots turning into cars came from?"The cartoon and the characters were American creations, the toys themselves were from a couple different Japanese toylines.

"in the Transformers universe of cartoons and comics that has been, until now, raceless"That's not entirely true. Transformers have been depicted with human ethnicities and races (the former being much more common) pretty much from day 1. Jazz, for example, was always "black".

Blue Mako, the entire sentence reads: “It is Mudflap & Skids, characters with a lengthy history in the Transformers universe of cartoons and comics that has been, until now, raceless, that are offensive.” Mudflap & Skids are the two characters being focused on in this post, and yes Jazz has always been depicted as ‘black.’ “Let’s paint him black, black-up his voice, and call him… oh, I know, JAZZ!” If the characters had been conceived some time after the birth of hip hop culture I’m sure they would have named him RAP.

p0et, what is your point? Acknowledging racism when it’s displayed for fun and profit makes the observer racist? I do have my occasional racist thoughts, the incessant chattering of my own underdeveloped monkey mind, and I find it helpful to analyze and develop through these moments. I am not even going to begin on why MTV is not a legitimate barometer for any sort of racial insight, or how their paintjob makes no difference.

Gary:"It sounds like you are blaming a people for the stereotypes fabricated and projected upon them by a separate, dominating, group."

Stereotypes are only created if that archetype already exists. The stereotype of the 'ghetto African American' wasn't "fabricated and projected" first, and then large numbers of blacks decided to adopt it. I'm not blaming blacks for being stereotyped, but I am blaming ghetto blacks for acting the way they do.

Morpheus:"Regarding your 99% comment: This begs the question as to why POC should be held to a greater standard than non-POC?"

You're right. After I posted that I realized the number was totally off base. What I meant to imply was that the majority should be aspiring to careers based on hard work rather than talent and a lucky break.

"Out of the group of whites about 110 millions of those people span the spectrum (poverty, working poor, working-class, lower-middle class etc.) Which means that none of these people are doctors, lawyers, engineers or business owners and are much more likely to be on welfare, stuck in dead-end jobs or living pay-check-to-pay-check under a mountain of debt. In other words, a typical American family."

Agreed. But urban working class black neighborhoods such as the one I live in have a culture that glorifies drug dealing, gangbanging, and speaking bad English, and I don't think that is a productive environment for a chil to grow up in. Before you say it, I also don't think an alcoholic four-times-married mother in a trailer park is a productive environment for a child to grow up in either - and if that were the topic of this post I'd be focusing on that instead.

"Therefore, I can further assert that people from the lower-economic rungs have a similar set of misplaced priorities and challenges."

Agreed 100 percent. But you can't justify one culture's mistakes by pointing out "look, this culture's gone and fucked up too!"

"Your comments also incorrectly assume that negative stereotypes that are applied to POC from all social-economic backgrounds are somehow the result of some POC behaving poorly. In addition to this assertion being based on a racist-double-standard, it incorrectly assumes that (a) out of the roughly 35 million black people in this country the vast majority of them are hoochie-mammas, aspiring rappers, and sport-star wannabes. (b) That even if there were no or few representative examples for which these racist stereotypes are based, they would magically go away."

No, that's not what I'm assuming at all. I'm simply saying that the "ghetto urban lower class black stereotype" is rooted in reality - there are black people who act like that. Come over to my neighborhood (Humboldt Park in Chicago by North and Rockwell) and tell me that people don't really act that way. I'm in NO way saying that all black people, or even most black people act like that, in fact I have nothing but sympathy for the black people I have as friends because they're unfairly associated with the "ghetto" ones based solely on skin color.

The thing is, those characters weren't supposed to represent "black people," they were supposed to represent "ghetto black people." And yes, I do think the stereotype would go away if people stopped acting like that - after all, the stereotype wasn't there BEFORE people started acting like that, was it?

"You're basically justifying dominant, negative stereotypes of blacks that are widely applied to all black people regardless of whether they've actually done the things you've listed."

No, I'm not. I'm sorry if you took it that way. What I am justifying is the use of stock caricatures to represent a segment of the population that is obviously large enough for the average viewer to recognize. I think it's wrong for an average black person to be compared to a ghetto stereotype. But I sure as hell don't think it's wrong to use characters that are based on a real subculture.

"And I wonder if you've really looked closely at any "statistics" about young black women and their hair and nails, given that I haven't seen Revlon, Opi, Luster, Dudley's or any major marketing companies publish this data anywhere."

No, I haven't seen statistics, but my own personal observations have shown a contrast. I went to 2 high schools - the first was a middle class, private, all girls Catholic school and the second was a public school in a working class mostly black neighborhood (89% black student body) and I can tell you that at the first school, the black girls there had their hair done in classy styles, either in subtle braids, straighened, or natural curls, and their nails tended to be natural and well manicured. Those were the women who could say they got their hair done for a job interview. The second high school - flamboyant high weaves, bright red highlights, so many giant beads on their braids that they went clackety clack down the hallway, and loooooooooooooooooong acrylic nails airbrushed with designs and decals.

"While I'm not denying systemic problems in certain segments of African-American communities, as a person who has studied sociology, political science, and economics, I find it profoundly interesting that these "pathologies" are considered any more dangerous or detrimental than those mirrored in whites and other groups."

That depends on what pathologies you're referring to. A culture that tolerates (at best) or glorifies (at worst) drug dealing, casual sex, carrying illegal firearms, cop-killing, and homicide in drug wars would be right on the top of the 'dangerous' list in my mind. Yes, every community has its share of self destructive behaviors...but these behaviors go beyond self destructive. They destroy the community as well.

"If anything, the stats have shown that the effects of these "pathologies" are more dangerous to people inside the group (other blacks) than outside of it (whites and everybody else)."

Agreed. Agreed 110 percent.

"More interesting is how we don't hear the same kind of dismissals when we see young white girls baring their body parts and sexual proclivities for the world in "Girls Gone Wild."

Oh honey, I feel your pain on that one. I for one am nearly perpetually ranting about modern day slut culture and how disgusting I find it. I find it absolutely appalling how junior high school girls (in ALL neighborhoods) consider it 'normal' to give oral sex. When I was in junior high I barely knew what oral sex WAS. It makes me sick, and believe me when I say I am color-blind when it comes to calling a skanky ho a skanky ho.

"What about all those mass elementary and high school shootings, often committed by young white boys over the last 25 years? Where the hell do these kids get *these* guns? I may be worried about Little Ray Ray killing my child down on 5th Street, but don't think you don't have something to be worried about, darling"

This, I do have statistics for. Not only are most homicide offenders black, but their victims are most often black as well. Yes, everyone does have to be worried about being killed these days, but as far as percentages go, who do you think has to be *more* worried? http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm

When I got dropped off at home tonight, I saw two things of note. First was a group of about 5-6 young men standing in front of a boarded up building selling drugs (no, I'm not stereotyping, they're out there a good 12-16 hours a day and the first time I walked by them they asked if I wanted any "dro"). The second was a young, well dressed couple who looked like they were on a date. All of these people were black, but tell me this - which do you think affects the young couple more, the fact that the group of drug dealers is stereotyped in a movie, or the fact that they've infected the neighborhood to such an extent that they're out selling drugs in broad daylight?

Thanks for taking the time to clarify your comments. While I knew that there was a possibility that your comments were not malicious in intent I couldn't be sure.

BTW you wouldn't happen to be Elizabeth from 999 would you? (That would be really funny.) Anyway,I grew up in Humboldt Park California and Thomas in the mid 70s. North and California late 70s and then Thomas and Rockwell from 1980 to 1989. Therefore, I've seen the transformation of a neighborhood that was predominately Polish-American to Black-American/Puerto Rican-American and all of the social strife that comes with such a transformation.

I didn't get through reading all of of the comments, but it seems Elisabeth touched on what I wanted to say when she asked "how do you know they're the only 'black' robots in the movie?" I personally always envisioned Optimus as black - he had a very black sounding voice to me.

Like you I saw the movie at midnight on opening night, and I enjoyed it up until the older characters started showing up, like the primes, and specifically the old, giant decepticon that changed allegiance to the autobots. Why did he have to have a British accent? In many movies to convey important/powerful ancestors, a British accent is used, as if the British are responsible for everything important in the world. It's been a while since I watched the movie, so please excuse me if I'm fuzzy on the details.

"Until then, it will be there in all caricature-driven movies. And to say those were the only two black-inspired robots is a slap in the face to every black who's ever been criticized by his community for 'speaking white.'

Fabulous post. I'm a 19 year old "black" female and my boyfriend and I went to see the movie at one of the "more acceptable" movie theaters in Atlanta. Each time the characters spoke of something that continued the perpetuation of racial epithets -which I have been working my A$$ off to put an end to through education- I was outraged. During one particular portion of the movie, specifically the portion that focused on literacy and "slang" usage, which you also pointed out, I screamed out, "This is some racist bullshit." After my comment many of the other people just turned around to look at me while the row full of "white" boys in front of me burst into laughter and repeated what the character said. This movie is one that caters to the entertaining of those living inside the heteronormative and stereotypical American way of life, in other words very "Right Wing." Why was the military so much more involved this time? Anyways, Great post and keep up the excellent work.

RE: "I'm not blaming blacks for being stereotyped, but I am blaming ghetto blacks for acting the way they do."

Anonymous- There is no way "Ghetto Blacks" act. Because I was born and raised in the "ghetto" and in the streets of one of the worse parts of Atlanta does not mean I should be stereotyped or blamed. Education is something that must be attained that has yet to be attained on an equal level by race due to economic and skin color disadvantages. It is not that there is a ghetto way, but people in the ghetto will continue to be misunderstood by those who are privileged with finances, parents with high literacy levels, or above all "fair skin."

Also, all this talk of ghetto etc reminds me of a comment that a person I used to work with made to another individual in the office where I used to work a few months ago.

A guy who is White in our office asked a Black female colleague "So, what was it like for you growing up in the ghetto?". This, to me is not only a foolish question, but why do some White people assume that all Black people grew up in the ghetto. It is so annoying to work with people who constantly talk rubbish and don't think before they open their mouth, and to think this was in a University where you would think that people would be a bit more sensible and intellectual...

The Black girl answered "Well, I didn't grow up in the ghetto so I wouldn't know".

Are these types of dumb questions supposed to be provocational or what?

Not only were staff in the office asking these types of dumb questions possibly to wind people up, but the manager was the worst, so annoying and covertly racist, the kind of person that you would certainly avoid outside of work with her cheap gold chains and chavvy (common) attitude. Just imagine your manager swearing at work constantly using vulgar language (f-word etc) and shouting constantly and she is White.

So, I don't know where these film stereotypes are really going when you get unrefined characters in all races and faces.

"I'm not blaming blacks for being stereotyped, but I am blaming ghetto blacks for acting the way they do.

How can you do better if you don't know better? If you're a person of average intelligence growing up in a dysfunctional environment how are you supposed to know any other way to act?"

Also, being bombarded with so many negative stereotypes on a daily basis (the stuff the kids watch on TV). Where are the good role models? Switch on the TV nowadays and it is all about "bling", fast cars, violent computer games and films glamourising violence and sex 24/7.

It's all about making fast money, living the rich life and glamourising greed.

Not preaching, but that is what I see. Even the cartoons that are aimed at the kids are littered with this rubbish also. Where have all the good role models and values gone?

Besides, the people that are usually affected by these negative images first are poor and underpriviledged people.

@Elisabeth

The people in society who are mainly affected adversely by drugs are poor, less educated people, although rich White people take drugs too.

Also, who is in charge of the drugs trade? Who is at the top? I am 110% sure that Black people aren't running that show and pulling those strings. Although, it is comforting to sit back and conveniently blame us all the time.

Gary. The problem with the stereotypes is the fact that most African Americans speak that way and act that way. I live and work in a community that is mostly African American. That is how the majority of my neighbors and peers act. My co-workers, my boss. They all act this way. Not to the extent that they took it with Transformers, but it is still very real. To make matters worse, most Black Celebrities are the same. So how is it a stereotype if the majority is that way? Until the African American community stops looking up to Celebrities who act that way, the "Stereotype" will remain. But just to make things clear, I was insulted by the "Twins" because it continues to promote that "Ghetto" style as something people should glorify.

Pawpaw, I disagree with you -- I really doubt most African Americans do speak and act "that way." Most I've met haven't, and I suspect that what's happening for you is that you have such stereotypical "ghetto" behavior stuck in your head. And so, when you do see black people acting even somewhat that way, you think that's another black person acting "the way black people act," and you also overlook the many who don't act that way.

And anyway, what exactly are you asking for? That blacks act and talk exactly like middle class people?

What it all comes down to is this: What makes you think the characters were supposed to be "black?" After all, they didn't look that way, so the only reasonable answer is that black people really do act like that. If they didn't the thought that the characters were racist wouldn't even have occurred to anyone.

X, you're talking as if you don't know what "stereotypes" are. Like the Transformer characters discussed in this review, stereotypes are common, and usually offensive, ideas about what the members of a group SUPPOSEDLY act like. So the characters in the movie registered clearly to most viewers as "black" because they act like common stereotypes of blacks, not because they act like actual black people, who actually act in just as many different ways as white people do.